Submersible hull construction



p 0, 1968 B. B. BARHITE ETAL 3,400,679

SUBMERSIBLE HULL CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 31, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTORS BURT B. BARHITE BY PAUL ARNOLD Sept. 10, 1968 B. B. BARHITEETAL 3,400,679

SUBMERSIBLE HULL CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 31, 19s? 3 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS BURT B. BARHITE Y PAUL ARNOLD p 0, 1968 B. B. BARHITE TAL3,400,679

SUBMERSIBLE HULL CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fil a Jan. 31, 1967INVENTORS BURT B. BARHITE BY PAUL ARNOLD United States Patent 3,400,679SUBMERSIBLE HULL CONSTRUCTIGN Burl B. Barhite, 6821 SW. 1st St. 33144,and Paul Arnold, 3338A SW. 25th Terrace 33133, both of Miami, Fla.

Filed Jan. 31, 1967, Ser. No. 612,855 3 Claims. (Cl. 114-16) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A hermetically sealed hull for undersea explorationassembled from predetermined elements of arcuate tank ends by welding.

This invention relates in general to the construction of submersiblecrafts or hulls adapted for oceanography observation and other marinefunctions and more particularly to an economical construction for asymmetrical hull adapted to withstand high static hydraulic pressures.

Prior construction for hulls of this general character requiredelaborate expensive forming dies for producing three dimensionalelements made from heavy sheet material by means of progressive dieoperation in high impact preesses. Thus, the construction of arelatively low production of enclosed hulls by usual well knownprocedures is exceedingly expensive.

The present method involves a new form of construction adapted to theuse of well known existent formed sheet metal parts including the use ofa cutting and assembly process, to be hereinafter described, whichconstruction results in a symmetrical submersible hull having greatresistance to high static pressure, which construction is accomplishedat relatively low cost.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a totally enclosedsymmetrical submersible hull including a vertical tubular columncentrally positioned in said hull between the upper and lower side toserve as a reinforcement compression member and as a ballast tank.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a symmetricalsubmersible hull in which a pair of generally U-shaped vertical supportsare shaped to conform to the inner sides of said hull for reinforcingsame and providing ballast tanks for submergence and lateral stability.

These and other objects and advantages in two embodiments of theinvention are described and shown in the following specification anddrawings, in 'which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a standard circular flanged dished tankhead in reduced scale.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of two of the heads shown in FIG. 1 inspaced facing juxtaposition and having a central portion of uniformwidth, illustrated in dotted lines in FIG. 1, cut away and discarded.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the edges of the sectors shownin FIG. 2 secured to each other forming a hollow hull with a portionthereof broken away.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken through section line 4-4, FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken through section line 55, FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a perspective -view illustrating an alternative constructionutilizing complete opposite halves of the element shown in FIG. 1 with acongruent arcuate element of uniform width positioned therebetween.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a hull formed by two sets of the threeelements shown in FIG. 6 with the edges thereof secured together.

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view taken through section line 88, FIG. 7.

FIG. 1 shows a typical tank head H of ellipsoidal dished form which ismanufactured by quantity production by spinning and die forming methodsand is one of many shapes readily available for use as end members inthe fabrication of large cylindrical tanks of a wide variety of sizesused in industry. In this particular embodiment, for illustration only,the head 1, shown in FIG. 1, is approximately sixteen feet in diameterand formed from steel of uniform thickness of a half inch and is cutthrough along dotted lines 2 and 3, which lines lie in a pair of centraluniformly spaced vertical planes with respect to the principal axis ofthe head aa, thus forming sectors 4 and 5 and the discard of the element1 between the dotted lines 2 and 3.

A second like head is cut in the identical manner and.

forms lower sectors 6 and 7, positioned for assembly as illustrated inFIG. 2.

FIG. 3 shows the sectors 4, 5, 6, and 7 secured together preferably by ahorizontal peripheral weld 8 and a circumferential weld 9 in a verticalplane, as illustrated, thus forming an elongated hollow hull which isgenerally streamlined for movement when submerged in water andinherently highly resistant to deformation from static pressure in alldirections.

It is to be noted that the sectors may be satisfactorily joined by wellknown double riveted butt points instead of by welding.

Since the bottom and top areas of the hull are subject to the greateststatic stress, a pair of hollow steel vertical columns 10 are centrallypositioned and secured, preferably by welding, to the upper and lowerinner surfaces at the junction of sectors 4, 5, 6, and 7, as shown.These columns also may be used as ballast tanks for controlling the foreand aft attitude of the hull when submerged. In order to furtherreinforce the upper and lower halves of the hull, a starboard and a porttank 11 and 12, respectively, are formed in generally U-shape from sheetsteel and welded to the inner surfaces of each lower half at each sidethereof, as shown. These compression reinforcements may also serve asballast tanks for buoyancy control of the hull and for trimming thelateral attitude thereof. The cross sectional FIGURES 4 and 5 moreclearly illustrate the longitudinal and transverse shape of the hull aswell as the reinforcements therein.

It is now apparent that the length of the aforesaid hull issubstantially equal to the diameter of the heads from which it isconstructed. FIGURES 6, 7, and 8 lllustrate an alternate hull in whichthe aforesaid dished heads, like that shown in FIG. 1, are bisectedthrough a single central plane and the sectors are shown as 4a, 5a, 6a,and 7a. However, instead of joining the sectors, as previouslydescribed, a pair of like arcuate members 13 of predetermined uniformwidth and thickness are formed to edgewise coincide with the oppositeedges of the mating sectors 4a-6a and 5a7a, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.The elements described are retained by a horizontal peripheral weld 14and a pair of like circumferential welds 15--15 in a vertical planewhich will complete the enclosure of the hull. As heretofore described,columns 10a may be centrally positioned to reinforce the upper and lowersections of the hull against vertical static pressures as well as theuse of tanks 11 and 12 previously described serving as additionalreinforcements andballast tanks.

It is apparent that well known hermetically sealed entry hatches, notshown, and observation windows 1616, as illustrated in FIG. 3, may beplaced in the hull in appropriate positions as required.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. A method of constructing a totally enclosed symmetrical submersiblehull consisting of a first step of cutting a pair of like standarddished circular tank heads of substantially uniform thickness along twoplanes parallel the principal axis thereof and at a predeterminedequi-spaced distance therefrom and discarding the center portionsthereof forming two pairs of like sectors having planar cut edges,

a third step of joining together the peripheral edges of each pair ofsaid sectors together forming a hermetic junction,

a third step of joining together the peripheral edges of each pair ofjoined sectors forming another hermetic junction and completing a hollowgenerally ellipsoidal hull.

2. The method of constructing a totally enclosed symmetrical submersiblehull consisting of a first step of cutting a pair of like metal standarddished circular tank heads of substantially uniform thickness along twoplanes parallel the principal axis thereof and at a predeterminedequi-spaced distance therefrom and discarding the cut off centerportions thereof having a pair of planar cut edges,

a second step of welding each pair of said cut edges together forming ahermetic junction,

a third step of welding the peripheral edge of each said pair of saidjoined sectors forming a peripheral hermetic junction and completing ahollow generally ellipsoidal hull.

3. A method of constructing a totally enclosed symmetical submersiblehull consisting of a first step of cutting a pair of like standarddished circular tank heads of substantially uniform thickness along aplane through the principal axis thereof forming two pairs of likesectors having planar cut edges,

a second step of preparing two like members of predetermined width andsaid like thickness and shaped to conform with the cut edges of saidsectors,

a third step of hermetically joining the said cut-edges of each of saidsectors to each opposite edge of each of said members forming two halvesof a hull with each having a like shaped peripheral edge,

a fourth step of hermetically joining said peripheral edges of each ofsaid halves and forming an enclosed hull of generally ellipsoidal shape.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,555,357 6/1951 Maspero 114-162,887,977 5/1959 Piiy. 3,158,123 11/1964 Froehlich 11416 MILTON BUCHLER,Primary Examiner.

T. M. BLIX, Assistant Examiner.

